Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Issue 495 - I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face Flannel

Hi All,
I've had a busy week as usual - the curling rink was open for the holiday period and we had a nice crowd of family type bookings in. We also had a lot of people who had been earlier in the season and had enjoyed it so much that they came again. That's reassuring to me that at least I'm doing a reasole job, and not scaring them away!

As we lurch into 2009, it's that time when everyone looks back to the year closing, and forward to the year about to start.
I've long written about my not being a fan of New Year resolutions, because they tend to be made by people almost as a joke, with the results reflecting that lack of conviction.

However,for many people it's the *only* time they stop to take stock, so it shouldnt be knocked that much.

The credit crunch hit home in 2008 - 'credit crunch' is a cover-all type phrase used to excuse any business ills at the moment, but the UK is already in recession, with 2009 probably being worse.

The Israeli/Palestine conflict has flared up again, so it will be another New Year with international violence as the headline.

Looks like a poor 2009?
Maybe.

Or maybe not.
On Christmas Day one of my fave films was on, My Fair Lady.
A great film for many reasons, one of them being the story itself, that Elisa Dolittle had the courage and gumption to follow an idea, take action on it, do the wok required, and get the result.

If you take that kind of attitude into 2009, you could make it a year to remember.

Is it childish of me to use a Hollywood film from 40 years ago to say 'think what you can achieve'?
Some people might say so, but in my view - let them!

It's the kind of thing that works for me, and leaves me asking not what can I not do, but what *can* I do!

Have a Happy New Year, and for 2009 I wish you as always,
Health & Happiness.

'Til Next Time in 2009,
Gordon
p.s. 'I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face' is a song from My Fair Lady, and it was the comedian Spike Milligan that cracked the joke that he wrote a song that never made it called 'I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face Flannel' (just in case you wondered!)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Issue 494 - The Sequin Method

Hi,
I hope Tuesday finds you well.

Strictly Come Dancing finished its latest run on TV over here.
A phenomenally successful format, sold around the world, it works for many reasons - It is unabashed entertainment, with sequins and flashy grins.
The show in the UK is live, so the tension is palpable.

The reason I like it, and I know I've said it before, is that it is a great demonstation of truths about goal achievement - set yourself a target, commit to it, and then work as hard as you need to, and you can achieve stunning things.

The change in one amateur dancer this series really was amazing to watch. She took several knocks from the judges, survived many dance offs, and got to the final.
Once there she encountered another fact of life, because although she got perfect maximum scores from the judges for both her dances, she was the first to leave the final.

Was that unfair?
No.

Was it hard on her?
Undoubtedly, but that's the way it goes!
The other couples were equally as good, and it shows that despite the hard work and commitment, you can't always guarantee success.

It's a great show, and I'm already looking forward to next year's series!
Great life lessons too, and as we appraoch the end of another year, it prompts the question - what did you commit to in 2008?
How hard did you work towards it?
What were the results?

The answers of course then lead you on to what will happen in 2009 - you don't necessarily need to get the sequins out, but by jiminy you could do worse than think of Strictly Come Dancing for inspiration!

Ok, that's it for this week, and I'll sign off by wishing you a Happy Christmas to you and yours, and hopefully I'll get to whack out an issue next week!

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Issue 493 - Tradition!

Hi ,
I hope today finds you well.

I noticed a lot of traditional things happening.
During the time when I didn’t get a newsletter done, 11th November was the traditional day to remember those that died in war. The Queen lays a wreath on behalf of the nation, and there’s a 2 minute silence at 11am.
I obviously remember this right back to childhood.

Then the other day there was the State Opening of Parliament. This is a tradition which marks the fact that although the government is the Monarch’s Government, it is a state before crown system.
This means that even today, the Queen’s messenger is sent to summon the MPs, and gets the door slammed in his face – he has to knock and ask the MPs to come and hear The Queen, who is in full State dress and crown.

That dates back to the English Civil War times, 350 years odd. (Obviously the tradition, not The Queen herself, although she’s been there all my life)

Another tradition I remember from childhood is going to Woolworth’s to buy some pick&mix sweets. That’s a tradition which came to an abrupt halt as the chain went bankrupt.
I did email the administrators asking if they’d give me knock down price on some small candy bananas, but no reply yet… a bit rude that if you ask me.

Some traditions stay, others fall by the wayside, it’s the way of things.
Some traditions are good, some are bad.

Some traditions you could just call habit, and you stick to them just out of, er, habit.
This kind of approach can really hold you back.
I’m not saying never have traditions or habits, in fact they are great, but make sure you only hang on to the ones that do you good, and ditch the ones that keep you fixed where you are and no further.

Ok, that’s it for today, as we lurch towards Christmas, I’m off to prepare for my own tradition by searching out my copy of ‘Muppet Christmas Carol’

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Make Money From Sporting Tradition?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com/

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, November 24, 2008

Issue 492 - Twinkle-Toe-Trouser-Tastic!

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

There's been a big hoo ha in the UK media this week about Strictly Come Dancing.
This TV show is currently the best selling show worldwide, and a huge moneymaker for the BBC.

One of the contestants was an ex political journalist John Sergeant.
The man can't dance, and by the way I'm the first to admit that I can't either!
However, the more the judges said he should go, the more the public voted to keep him in.
He resigned from the show, saying even he thought it was going too far, and there was rife speculation that he had been leant on to leave.

The show was something I was going to write about in the issues I missed due to time, so let's do it now...
It's a great show which works so well because you can see the hard, hard work that the celebrities put in, the nerves they feel, and the results which may go either way on live TV.
The point I make every year, (and you can search the blog/archives if you don't believe me!), is that it is amazing what you can achieve by following the simple formula as played out on Strictly Come Dancing - you commit to the goal, you put in lots of effort and work, and although the results can't be guaranteed, it's possible to achieve unthought of results in surprsingly short time.

In life you have the advantage that the public cannot take the end result away from you, although of course there are plenty of other obstacles which you may have to get over/around/under/through.

You may not have any desire to turn yourself into a dancer, but what *do* you want to turn yourself into?
Do you want it enough to commit to it, to work towards it?
It's a key element to success/life improvement.

On Saturday The Great Gordino Classic curling tournament was held. Early on in my curling adventure I was in the winning team that won a lovely trophy.
I made the decision that a good way to make sure my name was on a trophy every year would be to start my own trophy.

It seems like a wise plan as my team came in 4th place this year!
I wore my harlequin trousers in my continuing attempt to get more brightness on the curling ice.
As promised you can see some pics of them here:


In this one I am telling my team mate that harlequin is the way to go. He is clearly thinking that black is quite fine, also that I'm about to get a broom where the sun doesn't shine...


Hoping that furious movement will bedazzle the opposing team - they don't look particularly bedazzled...

When I started wearing them I got some light hearted stick from other curlers, which was expected. What I find more amusing though, is that now when I don't wear them everyone asks where they are! So I suspect my campaign may be taking root...
Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to get someone else's name engraved on my trophy.
'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!
Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Issue 491 - Are You A 3 Way Adaptor?

Hi,

Well it's been an interesting time for me lately.

After the last newsletter, I was determined to get the next one out on time.

Not only did I fail to do that, I also failed with the following one, which I had been even *more* determined to get done on time!


The reason? Curling. Simple as that.
Or in fact not quite so simple.


My job at the curling rink has developed, as jobs tend to, and there is always something extra that needs doing.

It may be the finer points of maintaing the curling ice, or seeing how far I can get round a U bend, but there have been some long old days.


I may not get home until 12.30 at night, with a morning start at 6am.
Throw in the 1 hour drive each way, and I never seem to get anything done when I get home bar the essentials.


For the nearly 6 years I have been waffling on with this newsletter, I like to write it by just sitting down and writing - not editing too much, which gives a conversational flow that I like.

Ok, I may drift off on some peculiar tangents as a result, but it's the way I like to write, I do it for my articles and books, and it works for me.


What hasn't worked for me has been that when I realised I was not getting the time to sit and write the issue in 1 sitting, I did not start writing in chunks, but expected to get it done another time - of course I didnt get done another time!


This brings up a point I make many times, because it's a good one, and it's about our ability to adapt to change.


My ability appears to have been less than I thought it was!
At least I have spotted it, worked out what the problem was and come to a solution, so I am writing this issue in chunks. and it *will* have been published on Nov 17th!


Change may come to us in many forms, we may ask for it, we may not, but our ability to adapt to it is one of the most important things we can cultivate to make real progress.


Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to edit those pics of my curling trousers, which I said I'd show you, and will next time. Not may, but will!

Til next time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Monday, October 27, 2008

Issue 490 - The NFL's Biggest Problem

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

The more eagle-eyed reader may have noticed there was no issue last week.
I was set to do another Tuesday issue around my work at the curling rink, but then realised I had no topic to write about!

Hmm...
I left it couple of days hoping that a subject would come to me, but it never did, and by that stage I thought I could write about lack of inspiration, but thought that would be writing for the sake of it, so I didn't!

This week I am back on the sport, which I haven't touched for a coupe of weeks at least!
I played in the English Masters curling tournament at the weekend, the biggest event in England this year, and at the end of the 2 day competition, my team lost out on the title with the last stone! Oh well, such is sport, it can go either way, but it was good fun to take part in.
There are some pictures of me in my extra special curling trousers which I'll sort for next week.

Also over the weekend, the NFL came to London.
For many years they held pre-season friendlies here, but although they sold out, the pre-season nature meant the games never had that extra edge.
Last year was the first regular season game outside the US continent, and despite the pouring rain it was a huge success. The fears of how it might affect the teams were dispelled when one if them went on to win the Superbowl.

This weekend the New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers in a high scoring game, but my point is not about the score, it's about the business nature of the NFL.
The boss of the league said after last year that he wanted the game to be a global passion - well that will never happen, and it's the business model which stops it.
The NFL is a franchise operation - every team is a franchise of the business, meaning they have to adhere to the NFL's policies, you can't just start a team and win the Superbowl.

In the same weekend as the London NFL game was taking place, Hull City went to the top of the Premier League in British soccer.
In soccer, you *can* just start a team, and there is nothing to stop you going all the way to the top, and this season is Hull's first in the top flight.
This simple difference is fundamental and it's possibly the biggest reason the NFL will never be a true global passion.

You can still make money from it though!
I used to make good money selling replica NFL helmets and jerseys, and it's still big business today, but you can use this weekend's London game in lots of ways to make money.

I write about the method in my 'Make Money From Sport' book, and at just $7, don't let the credit crunch get in your way!
In fact this method will still work in leaner economic times, and may well help you out if things get stretched!

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to write to Mr. NFL with my advice...

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Make Money From The NFL?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, October 13, 2008

Issue 489 - What's Your Attitude?

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.
Today's issue is about attitude.

It's one of the 4 magic words beginning with 'A' that I wrote about in my 'Transform Your Life' book.
(Of course you can find out what the other 3 are by clicking the link at the bottom!!)

The global financial crisis is now getting to such proportions that the general public can no longer dismiss it as something restricted to the financial circles, or something that's the flavour of the month in the press.

Here in the UK, some of the biggest banks we have have seen huge amounts of their business taken over by the government, in other words the taxpayer.
This means that the attitude of the banks will have to change. To say it's becoming clear that the banking institutions were being reckless for years is not true, as people have been saying it for many years - it's just that it was ignored by too many people for too long, as plenty of money was being made.

That illogical attitude of lending to people who were unlikely to pay back has to stop, and as a result the effect will ripple down through businesses at all level and into the pockets of individuals.
Many people will find radical changes being imposed on them, and it will be a huge culture shock to the system.

Change and shocks to the system are always going to happen.
They can't always be predicted, they can't always be controlled.
However, one thing that you can always control is your attitude to change.
You can mope and whine about things, or you can accept change as merely something different, even turning it into the most positive thing that has ever happened.

That may sound glib, some may say childish, and of course some changes and hardships can't be wiped away with a silly grin.
That's not what I'm saying - my point is that the attitude you take is paramount to your contentment in life, through the good time as well as bad, and any time is a good time to check and make sure your attitude is one which helps you rather than hinders you - after all it's your attitude, so why not pick the one that makes your life easiest!

Ok, that's it for this week, feel free to email me with your attitude!

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, October 06, 2008

Issue 488 - 4 Foot High On Tiptoes!

Hi,
I hope everything is ok with you.

After last week's issue when I mentioned an affair with someone 12 years younger than me, someone emailed me hoping that I wasn't 20 at the time!
No, I was in fact 30, and with her at 18 it was a shock to me as much as anyone else I can tell you.
So if the same thing is to happen at the curling rink, I'd be looking at someone aged around 30 now!

I was coaching a group with a woman of about that age the other day.
She was tiny, about 4 foot high on tip toes, and I commented on how small her shoes must be.
She turned to her colleagues and shouted 'He just called me a dwarf!!'

She was obviously happy to joke about her height so I took the bait and replied that I hadn't called her a dwarf, because in fact she 'was probably more a midget than a dwarf.'
She asked me what the difference was, and I told her I wasnt an expert and that she should probably know. I said I think dwarfism is a medical condition, and a midget is just a very small person?

Anyway I reckon she fancies me, evidenced by the fact that she's been too shy to get in touch since then.
Maybe she'll come round (and growing a few inches wouldn't hurt either...)

The rink is actually open now, and it's been good to see people curling, and I've won a couple of games too. I decided to lead a team this year so it's good to get wins on the board nice and early.
To celebrate me winning a couple of games, and the rink opening as we crack into October, I'm offering my book which I wrote last year for a special price of $5.

I called it '40+' and it's about how I used goal achievement theory over the previous 20 years. It's more of a story in style than my 'Transform Your Life in 21 days' book, and covers all sorts of things like the above mentioned 18 year old, various entertainment jobs, and coming out of the fog of depression.
It also mentions an idea I had for a new adventure, which I still haven't decided whether to dive into or not.

So anyhoo, if you enjoy my waffle and fancy having a read about various things I've done over the last 20 years, at $5 I reckon you might enjoy it.
No sales page, no big hype, just go to Paypal and send me a $5 payment to gordon@gordonbryan.com and I'll manually send you the book - it's even got some dodgy pictures in it!

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to get out my medical dictionary.

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about Tiddlywinks?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Issue 487 - Crash Bang Wallop What A Picture!

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

It's been a busy old time at the curling rink.
I knew it would be, and it has reminded me of when I was an entertainer at a holiday park many years ago. It was not really possible to view it as a normal 'job' due to the hours, you just had to accept it as a way of life.
Mind you when I did that job it resulted in a mad passionate affair with someone 12 years younger than me, so here's hoping...

As usual there was a bucket load of sport taking place over the weekend. The F1 Grand Prix was on TV at the rink, and there was a moment when a driver pulled away from the pits with the fuel hose attached.
I knew that in the papers there would be a great picture of it, and sure enough, a superb overhead caught the moment just as the mechanics were knocked over by the flying fuel hose (they were unhurt by the way).

There was also another great picture as 2 footballers jumped up to head a ball but ended up contacting each other's head instead! One of them had a particularly flat nose in the picture as it took the full force of the other player's head.
Ouch.

The thing about these great sport photos is that it is just accepted that will appear in the paper, and the process is not really thought about, except maybe the odd idea that it must be a 'great' job.
Of course the reality is that if you choose that job you have to start at the bottom, and spend most of your life in cramped conditions, watching hour after hour of boring sport in case you get the exciting moment. Then if you do and didn't miss it, you have to scurry around to get it circulated, and hope that yours is the one that gets pickd for use.

It's a job that can undoubtedly be rewarding, both financially and artistically, but it also absolutely has to be treated as a way of life rather than a job.
It's something I write about a lot, and it's a vital point about paying the price required for your goal.

You need to accept, fully, what is required to do whatever it is you have in mind. It is then up to you, no-one else, to decide if you want/are able to meet those requirements.
If you can, then great, forward you go. If not, then fair enough, but accept it because this makes it so much easier to find contentment without any lingering 'what ifs?'

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to find my camera.

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about sports photography?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Issue 485 - Careful With Comparisons!

Hi,
I hope Tuesday finds you well.

Another Tuesday issue, as having spent nearly a week trying to get the internet sorted at the curling rink, I got home last night to find no internet access at home - D'oh!!

Tooth update - I won't give you all the gory details, but let's just say the Tooth Fairy must have read last week's issue, as it could have gone better!

Ok, here are the gory details...
I got all jabbed up with the anaesthetic, and had got settled down with my eyes closed, a great tip as you never see what's heading into your mouth then!
I was also using relaxation techniques to take myself off somewhere else...1...2...3...

Then I heard what you never want to hear the dentist say - 'Nurse can I have a wider root loosener please.'

1...2...3...!

Then the dentist (if that's what she was) told me she couldn't get it away from the bone and would have to 'saw into the bone'!

7...8...9!!!

I had to agree since it was like a war zone in there, so once she stitched me up I was sent on my way. All I can say is mock the Tooth Fairy at your peril!

Still it could be worse, I'm alive and well, it really could be worse.
Last week saw Eleanor Simmonds win 2 golds for Britain in the Paralympics. A swimmer, she broke the world record in one of then, and she is just 13!
Wow. Her disability is dwarfism, and yet to overcome that and win 2 golds is stunning, and she is always smiling and articulate - hugely impressive.

Last week also saw the 7th anniversary of 9/11.
Some people died that day without knowing anything about it, others did not.
Some people went back into the buildings again and again and saved many lives before losing their own.
I've written about these people before, and what they did should be remembered.

Today's point is comparison.
Be careful about who you compare yourself to - others may seem 'better' but there will be plenty who seem 'worse'.
It can be a dangerous game, and it's often more productive to focus on what *you* do, what *you* are.

Ok, that's it for today, I'm off to see if my stitches have dissolved yet.

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about the Paralympics?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, September 08, 2008

Issue 484 - Careful What You Wish For!

Hi ,
I hope everything is ok with you.

Update on the tooth - I saw a very nice lady dentist who had a good dig around before telling me the tooth is wrecked, I would have to come back and have it removed, and she would whack in a temporary filling.

'Can't you just whip it out now?' I pleaded, but to no avail. In fact that's a plea that's often failed, and I'm not talking dentists...

Ok, today's subject - careful what you wish for.

Goal achievement theory can vary depending on who has written it, but it's often said that when you make your list of goals, they need to be specific - very specific.
The reason behind this is that setting goals directs your subconscious mind, and one of those areas is spotting opportunities.
If your goal is not specific enough, you are giving your subconscious too wide a set of parameters, and you may end up with something that wasn't what you intended, but still fits the criteria of your goal.

For an example, you may say you want a million in the bank. Fair enough, but if you aren't specific enough, you may end up with a million in the bank, but owing a million and a half. It fits your goal, but is not at all what you wanted.

Here's how it relates to me...
The further I got into the sport of curling, I told people that I wished it was a sport that had money in it. As it happens, it's one of the hardest sports to make any money at, which is a shame as I would be happy to put in the effort.
In various conversations as well as mentioning this, I mentioned that a source of my writing work had dried up. Before I knew it, the owner of the curling rink told me he was needing someone to work there for the season, and asked if I was interested!

Working at a curling facility is certainly one way to earn money from the sport, and there's only 1 in England. I said yes, so for the next 7 months will be turning tricks at the rink, from serving the bar, to taking newbies onto the ice, to cleaning the toilets...

Is it a coincidence that this offer came up after I told people I wished I could make money from curling?
Quite possibly, that's why they invented the word 'coincidence', but nevertheless it's a great tie in to the theory of making your goals really specific, because what I'd really wished was to make money from playing the game, not sticking my hand round U bends, but I'm looking forward to a good few months of fun (and some sneaky extra practice sessions!)

Ok, that's it for today, I'm off to buy some rubber gloves and some bleach - are your goals specific enough?

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the
Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com/

Make money writing about the Paralympics?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Issue 483 - Dumped By Another Woman!

Hi,
I hope Tuesday finds you well.

It's a Tuesday issue this week as my internet connection decided to play silly beggars just as I sat down to write, and that's partly why it's a short issue this week.

The other reason is that I am reeling from the subject of the toay's title - yes, another woman has decided to give me the boot.
Kick me into touch.
Give me the elbow.
Knock me on the head.
I own yet another one-way ticket to Dumpsville.

And the woman concerned? In fact you may know her - it's the Tooth Fairy.
Oh yes, as I was cleaning my gnashers last night I felt an odd twinge. I looked to find that one of my teeth was now half a tooth, accompanied by a big gaping hole.
I rang the dentist and the next 'emergency' appointment is on Friday.
Thanks very much, Tooth Fairy!

I yelled 'oh Fairy of the Tooth, why hast thou forsaken me?'
Let's be honest though, that's never worked with any of the other women, so why would this be any different?
Ok, I may have taken her for granted, and ok I may not have bought flowers recently, but oh what savage vengeance, the wrath of a Fairy scorned.

So as you can imagine I'm in a fragile state, because my tooth is a bit raw, so the best I can do in respect of life nuggets is that's it's a living example of how you never know what's around the corner!

Ok, it's short one this week, I'm off to practice my currently gappy smile. Hmm, thinking about it , I wonder if it qualifies me for the Paralympics this week?

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,

Gordon

P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:

http://www.transformyourlifenow.com/

Make money writing about takeover of English Football?http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:

mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, August 25, 2008

Issue 482 - Proper Preparation Prerequisite!

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

So, the Olympics are over. Beijing is left in the memory and London is now the official Olympic Host.

Our organising committtee has already said that London won't try and compete with Beijing on scale, and in our segment of the closing ceremony, London chose a London Bus and umbrellas as our defining images.
Oh, and David Beckham, who has never competed at an Olympics, nor even won anything in international competition. Sir Steve Redgrave, who won gold at 5 different Olympics, was sitting commentating for the BBC...

In all fairness, I think London is right to say right from the go that it won't compete with Beijing.
China is a one party state which can do what it wants with its money, whereas the British government is (theoretically at least) more accountable!

London can now carry on preparing without the pressure of topping what China did.
That's the subject of today's last missive about the Games - preparation.

It takes years to prepare to host an Olympics, and all the athletes who took part this time around had to prepare.
Not just for the 4 years since the previous one, but most athletes spend their whole career preparing. An obvious example is the early morning starts before work, the extra jobs they take on to pay for the training and equipment and then more training in the evening. That's not once a week, but every day. Then there are the families, sacrificing time and all sorts of things to help support the athlete.

Then the athlete has to join an elite programme, which will mean moving home, and committing years towards Olympic qualification, giving up careers in many cases.

Then the elite programmes have to be created in the first place, staffed with the correct coaches and facilities, etc.

As for the Games themselves, think of all the volunteers needed to make the 2 week event run smoothly. Some set pieces in the opening and closing ceremonies had thousands of people who had been rehearsing for a year!

All those areas of preparation, and none of it can be missed.
If an athlete misses a single training session, that work has to be made up somewhere. At the top of world sport, the differences between gold and coming 4th are marginal, and it's often the marginal differences in preparation that make the difference.

It's the same in life when going for a goal.
Yes, you can set off all willy nilly, working it out as you go, because you have the flexibility I mentioned 2 weeks ago.
However, the more prepared you are, the better able you are to cope with the external circumstances I mentioned last week.

In life, just like the Olympics, you'll find that the successful people all have certain things in common, and one is preparation.
Don't overdo it though, there's something else all successful people have in common, and it's that they take action.
If you spend forever preparing and don't ever act, you'll get nowhere.

Ok, roll on London 2012. I'm semi tempted by the archery, as I did notice some old fat people taking part, but what made me laugh was that after they took their shot, they used binoculars to see what they scored!!

Right, thats it for this week, I'm off to prepare a cup of hot chocolate.

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about The Beijing Olympics?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, August 18, 2008

Issue 481 - Now That's Gotta Hurt!

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

As you can probably imagine I have been torn between which life nugget to draw from the week's worth of Olympic action.

Maybe it could be the womens 3000 metre steeplechase - making its' first appearance at the games, it marks the near final equality between mens and womens events in track and field.
I say near equality as the women still do the heptathlon instead of the decathlon of the men. There is no good reason for this that I can see, and it has been a 30 year slog to get these events deemed 'suitable' for women.

Blimey even the pole vault is a recent introduction, and yes Yelena Isinbayeva did win gold, and yes she broke the world record again!

However, what I'm going to talk about today is injury.
Michaela Breeze, Britain's only weightlifter at the games made a lot of news when she competed despite a bad back, yelping in pain as she carried on with no chance of a medal, before sinking to her knees in tears.

Paula Radcliffe has only ever run 9 marathons.
She has won 7 of them, and is the world record holder. The only 2 she hasn't won were the 2004 Olympics race and now the 2008 Olympics race, on both occasion through injury.

The American Deena Kastor had to stop in the same race too. She said she heard something 'pop' in her foot, and in fact it had broken.

Another American Sarah Hammer was in the middle of the pack in a cycle race when another rider crashed, taking Hammer out and breaking her collarbone.

Probably the biggest Olympic injury this time though is for China's Liu Xiang.
Ever since he won gold in the 110 metres hurdles in Athens, he was the face of the Beijing Games, and despite China prodigious medal haul, he was their biggest hope inside the main stadium.

It wasn't to be though, as his ankle was injured, and despite lining up at the start in obvious pain and distress, he was unable to compete.
So, that's a few injuries there.

Last week I wrote about the 'now or never' moments that define Olympians lives, that in 'regular' lives the pressure is not that intense, we can work towards our goals with much more flexibility.

This week my point is about how outside circumstances can send us off course.
When you think about all the years of work, sacrifice and dedication put in by the gold medal winners, then think about the athletes who got injured. They made the same sacrifices and effort, and in the end they didnt even get a fair crack at it.

Is that unfair?
Well, no. It's not unfair, it's life.

As we work towards our goals, we never know what may be around the corner waiting to derail us.
It may be something we can recover our goal from, but it may be that we can't.

It's the acceptance of that which can make a huge difference to our contentment in life, and whether we even try in the first place.
We can't expect life to be all gold medals and glory, it may just as easily be an injured ankle at just the wrong time. That's just the way it is, and it's how we react that counts.

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to polish up my song 'I Tore My HamStrings, You Tore My HeartStrings, What Am I Gonna Do?'

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about The Beijing Olympics?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, August 11, 2008

Issue 480 - Striking Gold

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

Well the Beijing Olympics are well underway, so if ever there was a time when I'd be talking about sport, it would be now!

I love the tradition and history of sport - I remember bits of the 1976 Olympics, and from then on have watched them all avidly except 1996 when my entertainment work prevented me from watching.

The British team has fired off 2 early gold medals, and both of them break long waits.
On Sunday Nicole Cooke won the womens cycling road race, the first gold medal by a Welsh athlete in a British vest since 1972, and this morning Rebecca Adlington won the 400 metres freestyle, the first Gold in swimming by a British woman for 48 years.

Of course one reason why these long runs develop is that the Olympics are only held once every 4 years, and for each event there will only be one winner every 4 years.
Ok, that may sound obvious, but when you hear about the years of training that the winners do, day after day, aiming for that one moment, let's not forget that all the other athletes do too!
For the winner it ends in gold, but for the others it doesn't, but they have trained just as hard.

I remember watching Cooke in the Athens Games.
She was a live medal prospect, but her problem was that road racing is a team game, even though it's contested individually. What that means is that if you don't have support riders to take the workload for you, the other teams will use tactical riding to overwork you.

In Athens this is exactly what happened to Cooke. The other teams were able to have their main riders take it easy, while their support riders attacked Cooke all the time.
She finished 5th.

This time the GB team had better support riders, who were able to let Cooke take it easy and save herself for her sprint finish.
I've seen her in interviews over many years, and she is usually calm and articulate.
For the whole day after her win she was glazed over, and talking like she was drunk! It must have been one almighty cocktail of hormones raging round her!
You could tell it was a 'brain does not compute' moment for her!

Winning a gold is a moment that will etch your name in time. It may be that only fans of the particular sport remember the names vividly, but the record book is permanent.

Yes, all the losing athletes trained hard and lost, but you will never win Olympic Gold *without* doing the hard work and knowing you may lose.

They get one chance.
Some people go to a few Olympics some people only go to one, and this brings around the point I want to make today.

Whereas the Olympic athletes have that one moment when it all matters, for us everyday plebs, things are not that high octane.
In our lives, we get the chance to try things over and over, if we make a mistake we can just do it again.
Yes of course sometimes we have to make quick decisions which may have huge impact, but generally speaking we can look well into the future, set our goal and start working towards it.
The flexibility that we have, is a luxury that many Olympians would love to have, so since we have it, shouldn't we make sure we are using it?

I know some readers don't like sport as much as I do, but if you get the chance while the Olympics are on, take a moment - pick one gold medal winner, or pick an athlete that finishes 4th.
Consider all the work that went in over many years for that one moment, ending in gold or 4th.

Then consider the flexibility that you have in your own goals - it makes them seem a whole lot easier knowing that you don't only have a once in 4 years moment to get it right!

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to consider the flexibility of my chocolate eating schedule...

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about The Beijing Olympics?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Issue 479 - Should Welfare Be Free?

Hi,
I hope Tuesday finds you well.

Today I want to mention something I spoke about 2 weeks ago, concerning the benefit system here in the UK.

Firstly though, I will just mention Yelena Isinbayeva. Since last week she has broken her world record again.
With the Olympics starting this week, I wouldn't bet against her doing it again.

Ok, back to the benefits...
The government has announced swingeing changes to the benefit system.

By the way, what a great word that is, 'swingeing', not to be confused with 'swinging' which is something that consenting adults do with strangers.
In fact I went to a swinging party once - everyone stood around in a circle and threw their keys into the centre, the idea being that it's a mystery as to who's keys you pick up.
I got an AA box on the M25...

Not true, just a little joke there.

The swingeing change is that people who have been claiming benefits for a year will have to do 4 weeks of unpaid work, work like cleaning up graffiti and so on.
Anyone claiming benefit for 2 years may have to do this work full time.

I think this should have been done years ago.
Of course it has created an uproar, amongst the benefit claimants. A couple were interviewed on the TV, and they were moaning 'why should I have to work for it?'

Of course the reason is that their benefit is paid for by the working taxpayer, so why should the person on benefit get it for free?

The crux of the problem is that the majority, not all, but the majority of people on benefit are too thick to understand this basic concept. If you asked them where the benefit money came from, they would not have the faintest idea, and they have been brought up in families of a benefit culture, i.e. no need to go to school, just live on benefits.

In fact here's something else scary I read, that 100,000 kids leave school each year here unable to read or write!!
Eh???

You have to take that figure with a pinch of salt, it looks suspiciously rounded, and you also have to wonder that if the brainiacs that worked out that figure put the energy into teaching reading and writing in the first place, the problem might not be so bad!

In days gone by if you made a mistake in writing, you might get a clip round the head with a blackboard wiper, and told to write 300 lines until you learnt it.
Today, you get sent on a trip to Disneyland.
If you're really bad and maybe punch the teacher, your family will probably get a trip too.

As a result, 100,000 leave school each year as dunces, who spend their life living on benefits paid for by those who went to school and work for a living.

This is why the importance of education and responsibility cannot be overstated.

I was talking to someone the other day about my book, 'Transform Your Life in 21 Days!'
I cover this ground in the book, plus other subjects about goal achievement and success theory.
I am genuinely proud of it, and I re-read it the other day. It still stands up 5 years after I wrote it, and I believe and use the theories today just as I did then.

I've decided that to celebrate it being 5 years since I wrote it, I will offer it for $5.
On the sales page you'll see it is priced at $27.
As it happens I think that's a good price, but the $5 mark may get it into more hands, which is fine by me.

If you go to the normal page, then click on my picture at the bottom, and it's actually a link to the $5 page.
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Ok that's it for this week!

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about The Beijing Olympics?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, July 28, 2008

Issue 478 - Yelena, Dwain and Randy

Hi,
I hope everything is well where you are.

Ok, so let's dive right into this week's issue - the Yelena in the title is Yelena Isinbayeva.
I've been writing about her for years, I remember way back in 2005 when she broke the pole vault world record by being the first woman over 5 metres.

She was at the top of the world, but decided that in order to really go further, she needed to change her style completely.
She wasn't happy with the barriers she knew she was approaching and wanted to tackle them sooner rather than later.

So, she took up the coach of polevaulting legend Sergey Bubka, and spent 2-3 years learning the new style.
In the last fortnight she has taken her world record to 5.03 - just in time for the Beijing Games, and what a superb example of goal achievement and success principles.
She wasn't about to rest on her laurels, that's for sure!

The Dwain in the title is Dwain Chambers, an Olympic story from the other end of the scale. One of the best sprinters in Britain, he was caught as a drug cheat.
Unlike most others, he didnt deny it, he admitted it, and apologised, taking his 2 year ban.

The problems started after that...
According to world athletics he is now eligible to compete again, but the British Olympic Association, unlike those of most other countries, impose a lifetime Olympic ban on drug cheats.
Chambers took the case to court, using the fact the he had won the British Olympic trial to show restraint of trade.

The judge said it couldn't be restraint of trade when it concerend an amateur event only held every 4 years, so the ban stood.

The issue here is of responsibility.
The British Olympic ban has been in place for years, before Chambers started running, and it has since been voted through again by athletes.
He knew the punishment, but did the crime for his own self serving means, no doubt quite happily still reaping the rewards had he not been caught.

How is it that he can now turn round and say 'oh yes I did the crime, but I don't like the punishment?'

This kind of logic drives me up the wall! He says he can be a role model for youngsters.
Yes, he can perhaps as a reformed character, but not if he gets to compete in the Olympics.
The lesson he teaches should be of consequence, not how to dodge consequence.

Ok, the Randy in the title is Prof. Randy Pausch, who died from cancer last week.
When in late 2007 he was told he only had 3 months of good health left, he gave a lecture at his university, and it was a massive sensation across the internet.

It's about his pursuit of his dreams, and how others can do the same.
He said he mainly wrote the lecture to leave behind for his children, but it's proved a huge inspiration all round.

I had never heard of him until today.
His death has sparked renewed interest, and you can see the video by typing Randy Pausch Last Lecture in youtube.
It lasts a bit over an hour, but it's an hour of your life well spent.

It was passed on to me by a friend today, and considering the focus of this newsletter, I couldn't do anything else but pass it to you.

Watch the lecture, and then think which role model out of Yelena or Dwain would be the choice of Randy.

Ok, that's it for this week, which role model would *you* choose?

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about polevaulting?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, July 21, 2008

Issue 477 - July Jingle Bells?

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

After last week's issue about the NHS in Britain, there is news this week of some big changes to our welfare system.
However since this newsletter is not just about political shenanigans, that can wait for another time, as today I want to cover a subject I meant to write about at the beginning of the month.

One of the many articles of mine lurking on the big wide inter web is called 'Quick, It's March 1st! Set Your New Year Resolutions!'

I happen to like it, as in 300 odd words it sums up pretty well why most people think that setting goals doesn't work. It's because they associate goal setting with New Year's resolutions, the kind of 'I'll give up smoking, stop picking my nose, stop being a fat arse' type thing, that we fully expect to have failed at within a week.

Of course one of the reasons they fail is precisely because we tell ourselves they will - and this is proof in its own way that goal setting works.
You tell yourself you'll fail, you believe you'll fail and you act accordingly with the result, and you may be ahead of me on this one, that you fail!

It's much better to set your goals on March 1st or any arbitrary date, because then the New Year association has gone.
Yes, New Year is a great staging post, but its too tainted to be that useful.

I wanted to write about this in the run up to July, because July 1st is the start of the 2nd half of the year, (how long before the first Christmas stuff gets in the shops...)

What a great time to assess your progress!
How has your year gone so far?
Did you have any targets that you were working towards? If so, how has it gone?
If you did exactly the same in the first half of 2008 as you did in the last half of 2007, it doesn't take a genius to work out that your life is probably exactly the same.

Did you expect life to give you something different, and if so, did you do anything about it - or, have you spent another 6 months being buffeted by circumstance, waiting for an outside influence.

As we rattle towards August, there is still *loads* of time to get things done in 2008. You can set so many things in motion, it could be this week that you make a decision which will change your life.
This is a powerful concept, yet most people dismiss it as nonsense, usually the same people that prove it every New Year with their failed resolutions.

Grabbing the reins of your life is a key pillar in my book, which I'm still proud of 5 years after I wrote it. You can see the link to 'Transform Your Life in 21 Days!' below.

Ok, that's it for this week - what Jul 21st resolutions will you be setting this year?

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the
Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about Wall-E?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/movies

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank
email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, July 14, 2008

Issue 476 - Ooh, Matron!

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

The NHS turned 60 on the 5th July.
"The what now?" some of you may ask.

Well the NHS is the National Health Service in Britain, and it was launched 60 years ago. I watched a documentary about it, and was amazed to learn the process.

The Health minister at the time was an MP called Nye Bevan, and he hadn't been in the post long, since the Labour government was new, having deposed Churchill's government.
Bevan was from the Welsh Valleys, where the main source of work was mining, battling treacherous conditions literally hacking away at seams of coal.
His father had fallen victim to the usual symptoms, as did most of the men.

What Bevan had noticed was that in one area, the workers had got together, and put in a certain amount from every wage packet. This meant that when they or their family was ill, they could get their treatment paid for from this fund.
This was a great success in a Britain where you only got the medical treatment if you had the cash.

Bevan announced that he would introduce this idea across the whole country, and said it would be launched within 6 months!
The medical professionals at the time laughed out loud, pointing out that it could never be done, and the doctors said they wouldnt have anything to do with it.

They had their private practices, so were worried about seeing their investments and positions slip away, that they would be 'medical civil servants'.
The British Medical Association was a powerful political lobby, and they voted overwhelmingly to oppose the scheme.

Despite huge support from the public who sensed a wind of change in the hard post war years, this digging in by the doctors put the whole project in trouble, and Bevan's career with it.

What he did them was a political masterstroke, he went to the chief of the consultants, who were top of medical tree. Even more amazing the chief was Winston Churchill's own personal doctor, and Churchill and Bevan pretty much hated each other.

Bevan persuaded the consultant chief, but he had the problem of standing for re-election himself, so that vote turned into an effective vote on the NHS. The chief retained his position by 5 votes, and it could be said that those 5 consultants saved the NHS from never happening.

The BMA simply dug their heels in further, prompting another political master stroke by Bevan. He began a publicity campaign as if nothing was going to stop him, and began getting the public to sign up to the scheme, putting a deadline incentive for them to do so.
This was pivotal, as in a few short weeks, most of the population had signed up.

The doctors knew that if they didnt get on board themselves, they would be left behind by those that had got on board earlier, and the BMA's resistance crumbled away.

The service launched on 5th July 1948, a truly remarkable achievement.
It had been thought that as illnesses were treated, the nation's health would get better, and the drain on public funds would be reduced to no more than maintenance levels.

This has never been the case in 60 years, with demand for treatment, facilities and research always outstripping what the Treasury is willing to give.

Some people say the NHS is Britain's finest hour, free health care for all at point of need, a truly social structure.
Others argue it has been our downfall as ever more people flock to Britain from abroad, just to tap into our benefit system and get easy health care.

These so-called 'health tourists' are not the only ones draining the system - the biggest problem comes from the unemployed here in Britain - people who have never worked a day in their life, yet expect and demand to get free health service. They don't appreciate the concept of paying into the pool to get the benefit, and the result is a massive drain on the rest of the workers.

That isn't the model that Bevan saw in the Welsh Valleys all those years ago, where people did hard, hard work.
However the NHS is viewed, it's a remarkable example of what can be acheived in amazing time scales, in this case 6 months!

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to see if I can get a bed bath somewhere...

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Want me to teach you how I write my articles?
http://www.articlewritingknowhow.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Issue 475 - New Balls Please!

Hi,
I hope Wednesday finds you well.
I'm writing this on Wednesday instead of Monday because I have been flat out busy, and try as I might to squeeze in the writing, it didn't get done.

I could try the excuse of 'the dog ate it', but even in the murky realms of my mind that would be pushing it -
Firstly no dog.
Secondly I don't know many dogs that eat laptops.

This week gave lots to write about - there's the 60 year anniversary of the NHS, and I also turned 42.
Someone said they hoped I enjoyed my next journey around the sun.
That was either a poetic way of putting it, that I hadn't heard before, or it was saying I should be fired off in a rocket, one of the two!

Then there was Wimbledon, and as the cries of 'new balls please!' indicate a British summer like no other phrase, that's the subject for today.

It's a great one for this newsletter as it emcompasses goal setting, hard work over a period of years with no guarantee of success, and the mental toughness needed.
Tennis is a peculiar sport.
It's still viewed in this country with a distinct middle class and upwards background, unlike most other countries around the world.

It's a gladiatorial sport - it's 2 individuals against each other, with no time limit.
The scoring system means that anyone can be match point down and come back to win.
Those 2 elements together mean that you have to beat your opponent, you can't play to run out time if you are ahead, you always have to be pressing on.

I've written before about Maria Sharapova, about the Williams sisters, and Billy Jean King.
This year threw up some good stories.

There was a Chinese woman semi finalist for the first time, a direct result of the Olympics going to China.
They threw masssive amounts of money at the game to produce world class players, and it has paid off.

Ana Ivanovic went out early in the competition, and she said the pressure of recently getting to World Ranked Number 1 and winning in France had got too much for her.

Someone who had not so much pressure but a huge drive was Rafael Nadal. Having won the French 4 times in a row, he was trying to do what no-one had done since Bjorn Borg back in 1980 - win both the French and Wimbledon in the same season.
He had reached the Wimbledon final 2 years running, lost to Roger Federer in 4 sets in 2006, lost to Federer in 5 sets in 2007, and found himself 2 sets up in the final against Federer this year.

Federer dug into his 5 time champion well of spirit, mental toughness taken for granted, and fought back via that scoring system to take the game into a final set.
No tiebreaks in the final set, the match goes on and on like 2 boxers punching away, and eventually it was Nadal that came out on top.

A lot of finals can be anticlimatic, but this one was a cracker, the longest ever, and finishing in near darkness.

Pick any one of these Wimbledon stories and see how they apply to your life.
Do you set goals for yourself?
Do you work your socks off, for years, in pursuit of that goal?
Are you able to take knock backs and failures, coming back for more?

I don't the answers to those questions in how they relate to you, but you need to make sure that you do!

Ok, that's it for today, I'm off to cry 'new balls please!' from various rooftops...

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Make money writing about Wimbledon?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, June 30, 2008

Issue 474 - Can A Balloon Model Flower Wilt?

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

I'll be honest with you, I was struggling to come up with something to write about today.
I dont' know why, maybe it's too much sun, or not enough chocolate.
Or maybe both.

So, what I've decided to do is to pursue the idea I wrote about last week.

You may remember, (and if not then why the h*ll not) that I told a story from 1996, when my girlfriend at the time started playing with my peculiars in the cinema while I was trying to watch the film.
Let's just say I was not Mr. Popular when I told her 'film tickets don't grow on trees, you know'.

Ok, I didnt use those exact words, but a dark thunder descended in the auditorium, and I'm convinced it was little things like that which made her give me a one way ticket to Dumpsville on her next birthday.

In fact here's another little tale that makes me giggle - on said birthday I drove to where she working in a pub, and since we had both been entertainers together, I decided to surprise her with a balloon model flower.

I thought it was impressive with leaves and petals and everything.
She didn't.

If a balloon model flower could wilt, it would have done so right there and then as a now worryingly familiar dark thunder descended.

Anyhoo as I said I think it was my decision to insist on watching that film which contributed to my life changing.
When she booted me into touch, I felt the full force of depression which was a long road to get out of.
Some people might think that either my decision had no impact, or because I didn't know at the time, it's irrelevant to look back now.

Well, I think it's a fact that our life direction so far has been made up of lots of little choices.

Remember the film Sliding Doors, which covered this very idea?
Gwyneth Paltrow doing a very passable British accent by the way.

Why do people get cast 'doing an accent?'
TV at the moment has Brit Anna Friel doing a US accent in Pushing Daisies, and then there's Hugh Laurie in House.
Mind you if it's a choice between Hugh Laurie, or Anna and Gwyneth, I know where I'm headed...

My point is that we don't know when all these little decisions come.
However, we *do* know when some decisions are coming.
Setting things in motion which work towards your goals may have consequences you don't yet know about.

They may be good, they may be bad, but surely it's better to take control of life's steering wheel, and do the best you can to pick your own route?
Otherwise you end up at the whim of circumstance.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is the kind of stuff I write about in my book, 'Transform Your Life in 21 Days!' which has a link below.

Ok that's it for today!
'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Want me to teach you how I write my articles?
http://www.articlewritingknowhow.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, June 23, 2008

Issue 473 - Get Your Hands Off!

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

Before I crack on with today's issue, it seems the cost of the athletes village for London 2012 is rising dramatically again, to the point where it won't be built unless the taxpayer stumps up even more.
I can think of a few athletes I would quite happily give a room to, and here's a clue - none of them are men, and none of them are shot putters...

So today's issue was prompted by someone asking me about the type of people that read this newsletter.
I answered that I guess it's people wanting to hear how I can turn stubbing my toe, or buying a can of beans, or my sorry love life into a goal achievement or self improvement nugget!
Most of the time I'm interested myself! (of course maybe that's why my love life *is* so sorry!)

For some reason, this story came to mind...
When I was 30 I had a passionate year long fling with an 18 year old.
When she dumped me on her 19th, it sent me spiralling into the abyss of depression.

Anyhoo, in the halcyon days before she shattered my life (not bitter), we went to the cinema a few times.
I think the film in question was Evita with Madonna, but it was def. a film I had wanted to see.

Being young and passionate, she started to get frisky when the film was on.
I told her that I wanted to watch the film as 'I had paid 5 sodding pounds'.
Didnt go down too well I can tell you, and maybe laid the seeds for the future devastation!

So what nuggets can be gleaned from that tale?
Well it's all about choice, consequence and responsibility.
I'm pretty sure that me making that choice was one of the factors in the relationship ending, which in turn sent my life in a totally diffferent direction.

Every choice has a consequence, but was I to blame?
Not really, at the time I had no idea that trying to watch the SODDING FILM was such a big deal.
Yes, I may have acted differently had I known, but I do realise that the choice I made had a big impact, so I take responsibility for it.

It also means that my future is formed by the choices I make today, and so is yours.
That's a powerful concept.

Today for example, I know that if a girl starts to have a fumble in the cinema, I should let her - of course the problem today is finding the girl.
Hmm, thinking about it, maybe I should include the shot putters in my letter to Mr. Olympics.

Ok, that's it for today, if you want to read more about my theory of responsibility, and my getting through the depression, you can grab my book 'Transform Your Life in 21 Days!' via the link below.

Right I'm off, Wimbledon has started and it's the mens' matches I'll be glued to...yeah right!!

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

How to make money writing about the Olympics:
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, June 16, 2008

Issue 472 - Make Money From Mini Sites?

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

This newsletter is about the subjects of self improvement, goal achievement and wealth creation.

I've been talking about the first 2 quite a bit lately but I think the last time I mentioned wealth creation was when I talked about my 1 to 1 course on how to write articles the way I do, and then use that skill for profit.
If you don't remember me mentioning it, you can see it at:
http://www.articlewritingknowhow.com

That site is actually a minisite.
In fact it has some elements missing (which I must get round to sorting!) but despite that, it has a whole bucket load of the key elements in place to make a successful minisite.

The one thing that's genuinely bad about the site, is that I am selling my time with that product. You get individual tuition from me, and that is time I cannot leverage for anything else. It's ok that I do that - I am after all getting one off payment for one off effort, it's what most people do in their jobs.

However, it's also possible to create minisites that *do* leverage your time.
You can set them up on autopilot, so that once the initial effort is done, they look after themselves apart from a bit of housekeeping.

If you don't believe me, then with all due respect it's because you just aren't aware of the facts.
I have spent a long time learning how to do things in internet marketing, and I could tell you all the detail about minisites.

However, a chap by the name of Michael Rasmussen has done a good job himself, and it's 100% no cost!
I've seen his videos before he did a great series on how to write emails that sell, and I've seen this set of videos on mini sites.
It's good quality content, and it won't cost you a penny to see it.
http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=9571

Funnily enough when I woke up this morning I wasn't quite sure what I'd write about, and then I got an email about this video series.

It seemed a great subject, as the content will cost you nothing whatsoever, and is genuinely helpful if you are interested in earning money online.
Now I have mentioned it, I don't want to waffle on for the sake of it, so I think I'll sign off.

Ok, that's it for this week - if you aren't interested in earning money online, it probably won't be of interest, but it's worth checking out these videos, and then refering back to my article site to see how many of the techniques you can spot!
http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=9571

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Has my article writing course got good elements of a mini site
http://www.articlewritingknowhow.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, June 09, 2008

Issue 471 - Fares Please!

Hi,
I Monday finds you well.

How many times have I written about taking responsibility?
A few times I'm sure you'll agree.

It's a key element to my theories of goal achievement, self improvement and wealth creation.
On a personal level, I think it's important to differentiate between blaming yourself, and taking responsibility.
They are different things, and the main thing is to accept that the choices you made in the past are the reason for your current situation, good or bad.
Yes, there also will have been circumstances beyond your control, but your reactions to those circumstances would have been in your control.

When British Airways made a total hash of the new terminal 5 at Heathrow, the boss publicly said that the buck stopped with them, that they had got it worng.
He also refused to accept a whopping bonus to his salary which was due.
Now let's face it, the boss of British Airways is never going to need money, but it was the gesture that was important, and was well received by staff and unions.

Let's take a look another company, Network Rail.
It's a private company that looks after the railway tracks in this country.

They have been criticised and picked up all sorts of fines from the regulators about continually providing poor service to customers.

So, what happens to the bosses?
They pick up massive bonuses, which are performance related!
The top 3 directors pocketed a nice big 7 figure sum between them.

The company made over a billion pounds profit, so you may think they deserve the profit.
Unfortunately, in what used to be a state run business, they are still subsidised by taxpayers money to the tune of 3 billion pounds, so now the 1 billion profit doesn't look so clever.

Is this taking responsibility?
No, it's more like taking the cash instead, thank-you very much.

This kind of thing happens in all sorts of industries worldwide, where directors get big bonuses for presiding over bad business.
I guess it's something for individual businesses to work out, but with the case of subsidy provided by *my* tax money, I reckon I'm allowed to voice complaint.

Of course in personal development terms, do not let yourself pick up bonuses which are undeserved, you have the power to decide where you own responsibility lies for where your life heads.

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to see if Network Rail have any top jobs going...

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Fancy making money by writing about Britain's Got Talent?
http://www.powernicheclub.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:mailto:
transform@getresponse.com

Monday, June 02, 2008

Issue 470 - Are You Some Sort Of Bucker?

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

I saw some things in the paper at the weekend which got my blood boiling, but whereas bad news shouldnt necessarily be ignored, I'm gong to focus on 2 stories of good news.

The first one is a celebration of Beryl Cook.
Beryl died last week, and she was right at the top of the tree in term of commercal sales for British artists.

A self taught artist, her pictures centred around fat women who enjoyed their food, enjoyed their drink, and enjoyed looking at young men.
She claimed to happily indulge in all 3 of those herself, and while her cartoony style didn't go down with the critics, the public bought into the idea, and bought the pictures!
When asked what the meaning was to her work, she said the only meaning was to 'make people smile'.
In all honesty I can't say I love her paintings, but they sure do the job of making me smile, especially when I hear that's what she wanted.

The other story is about George Sampson, 14 year old dancer who won Britain's Got Talent.
He got through the first round last year, but didnt make the semi finals.
This year he came back for more, and went all the way to the win, £100,000 and an appearance on the Royal Variety Show.

The final was watched by 14 million viewers, which is a massive pull in these times of media choice, and why not - the show features battle hardened showbiz veterans given a chance at the big time, it shows everyday folks with stunning natural talent, and it also gives the important life lesson that sometimes you won't always succeed, sometimes matters are outside your control.

Personally I think the show went a bit too far with putting the deluded acts through to the live shows, that smacks a bit of laughing at them, but as a celebration of what can be achieved with hard work and dedication, it's great!

The 12 year old classical singer I had mentioned before didnt make the top 3, but she had already been offered big contracts before the show, so her success is assured anyway.
Good luck to her with her natural voice, but her story has less 'come back against the odds' ingredients than that of George Sampson.

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to practice my breakdancing, where in my case the break may very well be real - like Beryl, like George, will you buck what the establishment tells you are your limits?

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Fancy making money by writing about Britain's Got Talent?
http://www.powernicheclub.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Issue 469 - Do You Believe?

Hi,
I hope Wednesday finds you well.

I didn't write on Monday as it was a national holiday here im the UK, and then I spent all day yesterday thinking that I had written it!
Ooo-er, if that isn't a sign of old age catching up with me, I don't know what is!

A big part of goal achievement theory is that you must believe , both in your worth to achieve the goal, and that the goal will happen.
If you fail to have this belief, you are effectively stating a positive belief in the opposite, and so it's the opposite to success which comes true.

However, belief will not *guarantee* success alone.
There are lots of other factors - taking action is a big one, and there are factors which we can't control.

On Saturday the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest took place in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, watched by 100 million viewers!
The winner was the Russian entry, a song called 'Believe'.

There has been lots of hoo ha in this country about the voting structure, because in the last few years it has been an open telephone vote from the viewers.
This means that the newer countries in the Baltic and Balkans tend to vote for each other, pushing the western European countries ever further down the list.
I'm not too sure about this - it sounds a bit like sour grapes from us, because we haven't won it for many many years, but that drought started long before the telephone voting came in, and both Greece and Finland have won recently, so I don't think the argument holds up that well.

Still, I bet the Russian singer 'Believed' eh? Especially since he had lost a couple of years ago to said Finnish entry, a load of heavy metal rockers in monster masks!

Talking of holding your belief to come back from failure, let's look at Paula Radcliffe.
The marathon world record holder is admired everywhere for her punishing front running style, and was hot favourite to win Olympic Gold in Athens.
Unfortunately the heat and a stomach upset took their toll, and she pulled out at roughly 20 miles, sitting in tears at the side of the road.

Belief is something Radcliffe has in spades though, and she set her sights on this year's Beijing Games.
She has had repeated injury problems though, and has recently been diagnosed with a stress fracture in her leg.
There are now distinct doubts as to whether she'll even get to the start line, let alone be at the top of her abilities.

It may mean she ends her career without that elusive Olympic Gold.
So belief has taken her to a world record and Olympic favouritism, but factors outside her control, i.e her leg bone may stop her goal achievement.

A great example of the power of belief, and the fact that you cannot rely on it alone.

Ok, that's it for today, I believe I'm about to eat some chocolate.

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Fancy making money by writing about the Olympics?
http://www.powernicheclub.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, May 19, 2008

Issue 468 - Power To The People?

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

Lots of choice about what to write about today.
I know that some readers loathe and detest sport about as much as I love it, so I checked to see when the last time I did a sporting issue was.

It wasn't that recent in fact, but I'll hold off at least for another week.
The story of Justine Henin retiring can wait.
And the one about Annika Sorenstam retiring.
And Oscar Pistorious winning his battle for Olympic eligibility.
And the 127th FA Cup Final.
And so on.

I could write about the Eurovision Song Contest coming up in Belgrade, where the UK will come last or thereabouts.

But no, this week it's politics.
There are votes on legislation all the time in Parliament, it's how the laws of the land are made, as the 650 odd MPs vote, each one representing around 70,000 voters.

But my question is, how well do they actually represent those voters?
It's big news this week that some votes on abortion and human-animal hyrbid embryo research will be so called 'free votes.'
A free vote means that the individual MP is allowed to vote according to his/her conscience, and has no obligation to vote with the party line one way or the other.

Hmm...
I get confused, not for the first time.

This shows that it's not up to the individual MP on the regular votes, they are expected to vote how the party tells them.
If the majority of the 70,000 in the constituency disagree, the MP tells them that they elected the MP and the party to make the decisions over the course of the term.
Ok, I can get that logic, but yet when MPs vote against their party, which classes them as a rebel, you'll often hear them say 'I have no doubt the majority of my contistuents and the country in general agree with me (i.e. not the party)

In that case are they saying the elecorate chose the party or the MP?
And if they chose the MP, was it so the MP could decide, or so that he could represent the constituents and vote as to their majority view?

Can you see the confusion?
There are 3 clear different options here, and what happens is that politicians claim to be following different ones at different times.

That is logic that *doesn't* wash with me, and strikes me as an obvious case of 'when it suits me'.
This leaves politicians clear to look after their own personal career ambitions rather than represent the people who elected them.
Not all MPs are this wavering in their claims - some are consistent the whole way through the term, so at least with them the voters know which one they'll get.

My view is that it would be nice if a my Member of Parliament represented the people who voted for him, i.e. me!
Surely if every MP voted like that on issues like abortion deadlines, the result would be a true reflection of the country's view on the matter.

I'm glad that I stood in the 2005 election, it's what makes my country a free one.
I thinking more and more that I should stand again in 2010, which gives me 2 years to see what kind of support I could muster before I had to commit.

What do you reckon, a good idea or a bad idea?
Another adventure to set off on, or something I need to be talked out of?
Would I be better off focusing on my curling?

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off!
'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Fancy making money by writing about politics?
http://www.gordonbryan.com/nicheriches.html

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, May 12, 2008

Issue 467 - 100,000 Dead In London

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

It finds me well.
I may have a bad toe, I may have noticed a little bald patch on my head, and that I need ever more quantities of dye (Excellence Creme by L'Oreal Numer 5 Natural Brown) to keep the grey at bay.
I may have maintained my remarkable ability to apparenty repulse women, but all in all I'm well.

I'm alive, I have a roof, I have food, I have choice.
Unlike all those poor people in Burma.

When the death toll first rose from 5,000 to 10 then 15,000 you knew the final figure was going to be high.
Now estimated at well over 100,000, and with disease possibly set to kill over a million as the Government stalls the help of the international community.

I called this issue 100,000 dead in London because it helps to imagine how the world would change if that were true.
As it happens it's Burma not London, but the people are people wherever it is.
What can you say when the government there is more interested in staying in power than letting other countries in to help.

I've always said this newsletter is about wealth creation as one of its' subjects, and part of that is to make sure we fully appreciate the wealth and abundance we already have but take for granted.
Not everyone has it, and we should appreciate the moment to the full.

On another subject, it's the ephemeral (ooh, good word) nature of live entertainment which appeals to me. There is nothing like sitting in an audience and watching a live performance that makes your body react by goosebumps.

The current series of Britain's Got Talent does just this.
Yes, there are the usual bozos and deluded idiots that come on, but when a non showbiz-trained person comes on, opens their mouth and produces a voice that gives goosebumps, it's one of the moments I'm talking about.

This week it was a 12 year old girl, who walked out, smiled sweetly and stood rather ungainly at the microphone, Faryl Smith.
She started to sing, and the whole theatre fell pin droppingly silent as she delivered a performance of Ave Maria to drop jaws.

The audience were caught in one of these ephemeral moments, and all they could do at the end was stand up and cheer.
She just smiled sweetly again, and said 'thank you very much.
Brilliant.

That moment, that one moment, has gone.
She has the appeal and talent to clearly be able to sell several million albums, but it's that one moment I choose to remember.

It normally is singers that have this effect, you may remember Paul Potts who won last year.
Music can affect us like this due to the way the soundwaves act with our brain.

I wish I could sing, but when I try the soundwaves react with audiences brains in a way that normally inspires abuse or projectile vomiting.

I've been to several teachers. I remember once I went to Jay Ashton, a woman who was in British band Bucks Fizz.
My brother always joked that when she asked me what I wanted to sing, I should have said 'can you teach me to sing Making Your Mind Up slightly off key like you used to?'
I reckon she may not have found that funny, but it makes me giggle everytime.

My voice will never compete with some of these natural voices, like 12 year old Faryl Smith.
I accept it, and enjoy the moments she and others can give me.

I smile at bad jokes.
I smile at myself, and I appreciate the abundance I have compared to those 100s of thouands in Burma.
Make sure you appreciate what you have.

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm off to appreciate some chocolate.

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Fancy making money by writing about your favourite singer?
http://www.powernicheclub.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Issue 466 - Shirley Temple, The Kind Of Face You Could Slap

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

Shirley Temple recently turned 80.
It's something when you can look back and think your movie career ended 70 odd years ago!

I remember often seeing her films when I was younger.
The first time she sang 'On The Good Ship Lollipop' you'd think it was really sweet.
The second time you'd think the novelty was wearing off.
The third time you'd think she had a face you could slap.

Not a real wallop you understand, not a crack around the head with a sawn off baseball bat or anything, just a little tap maybe...
Only joking, and Shirley made a successful career for herself after the movies, serving as US ambassador to 2 countries.

I watched a documentary about an Irish entertainer who has also turned 80 - Val Doonican.
He's someone else I remember watching - he was on tv for around 25 years.

Working hard at his craft of music, he slowly developed work, and then joined a group.
It was when he was in a show with Anthony Newley that Newley said he should be doing solo work, so he did indeed go solo.

Then he was asked to be on 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium,' a huge show watched by millions.
The record companies had not given him the time of day before, but within 6 weeks his first record was out and in the top10 of the charts.
He was an overnight success - after 17 years!!

Yet another story, and you know I love them, of how you can't go far wrong if you do something you love, and then work hard at it.
You may get that lucky break like Doonican, who is still touring today, but for every 1 Val Doonican there may be 1,000 musicians working equally as hard who don't get the fame and big bucks.

What's important though is that you are doing something that means something to you.

Another point is that while Doonican was working all those years before the big time, it was *hard* work.
I've done entertaining in small venues, and it can be an almighty slog.

A lot of people 'give up' when they aren't prepared to put up with it like Val was.
I think 'give up' may be the wrong phrase as it implies negativity, a defeat.
That's the wrong way to look at it, it's just a choice of lifestyle, and as long as you accept and take responsibility for your choice, you'll still be content.

Ok, I'm off to the shops to buy some lollipops...

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

Fancy making money by writing about Val Doonican?
http://www.powernicheclub.com

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com